Friday, August 27, 2010

Friday Roundup

Writer's cramp at the DOJ, the well fed U.K. Ministry of Defence officials, and a potential cost-savings due diligence tool ... it's all here in the Friday roundup.

Writer's Cramp at the DOJ?

When Charles Paul Edward Jumet was sentenced in April to 87 months in prison for FCPA and related offenses, the DOJ issued a press release the same day (see here).

When John Warwick was sentenced in June to 37 months in prison for conspiracy to violate the FCPA, the DOJ issued a press release the same day (see here).

When Juan Diaz was sentenced in July to 57 months in prison for conspiracy to violate the FCPA, the DOJ issued ... you got it ... a press release the same day (see here).

All three instances represented, in FCPA terms at least, a harsh sentence.

So what happens when a sentencing judge rejects the DOJ's ten year sentencing recommendation and instead sentences the defendants to six months in prison?

Well, let's just say that the DOJ appears to have experienced a sudden case of writer's cramp.

As indicated in this prior post, on August 12th, U.S. District Court Judge George Wu of the Central District of California rejected the DOJ's requested ten year prison sentence for Gerald and Patricia Green and sentenced the couple to six months in prison.

It's not like the DOJ hasn't been issuing press releases throughout this case (see here and here), but apparently when a judge materially disagrees with the DOJ, it is time to stop the presses.

Or perhaps it was a mere oversight in which case the DOJ will soon issue a release.

Well Fed U.K. Ministry of Defence Officials

The Guardian recently ran a story that caught my eye.

Written by Rob Evans, the article (see here) details how BAE Systems "regularly wined and dined mandarins and senior military officers."

The article also claims that BAE Systems "frequently gives jobs to politicians and civil servants in a 'revolving door' after they have left public service, including officials who negotiated multi-million pound deals with the company" and that "MoD secretly lobbied to end the Serious Fraud Office's investigation into allegations that BAE bribed foreign politicians and officials to secure large contracts."

An MoD spokesman is quoted in the article as saying "It is vital for the MoD to maintain a close relationship with the defence industry to ensure that we have the best equipment for our armed forces. All the meetings are subject to strict guidelines."

Due Diligence Co-Op Programme

I don't often highlight the latest in FCPA compliance services, but Red Flag Group's new offering seemed to make sense to me - plus it is a service that would seem to lead to cost savings for companies.

The ad (here) asks a simple question: "tired of paying full price for the same due diligence report that another company ordered just a few months ago?"

If you answered yes to this question, you may be interested in Red Flag Group's Due Diligence Co-Op Programme, also explained in the ad.